Project Summary/Abstract
The Paideia Seminar Cycle, with its components of reading, writing, thinking, speaking, and listening, is a perfect vehicle to address the Common Core State Standards for literacy across all content areas in middle grades. The Paideia Fellows team at Asheville Middle School will dig into the new Common Core literacy, speaking and listening standards and determine how the Paideia seminar cycle can be best used to meet both content and literacy standards. Rich seminars developed by the Paideia leadership team will integrate learning and challenge students to higher levels of critical thinking and expression of thought. Seminars will include all four core academic areas; some texts will be used school-wide, and others will be specific to grade levels, as determined by the leadership team. Pre-seminar reading activities and post-seminar writing activities will be included so that each seminar becomes a full cycle of literacy. The National Paideia Center will assist in crafting seminars with high-level questions challenging to students, selecting rigorous and ambiguous texts, and developing the pre and post seminar activities. During the course of the school-year, the team will read and discuss The Paideia Program by Mortimer Adler whose work was rooted in the belief that, "The best education for the best [is] the best education for all."
Students will study and analyze complex texts with their peers using active reading strategies during pre-seminar, discuss the text in a seminar led by a teacher facilitator who poses open-ended questions, and write in response to the seminar and ideas discussed during the post-seminar. The seminar activity values the thinking, speaking, and listening of all students in a collaborative and intellectual atmosphere. Students are explicitly taught and practice the skills necessary for academic discussion, setting both personal and group goals for speaking and listening prior to each seminar. The level of student engagement will be evaluated, along with growth in academic areas, especially in literacy and communication skills.
Project Goals
1. Team members explore the new Common Core State Standards for Literacy, Speaking and Listening, examing how the Paideia seminar cycle can be used to address multiple standards.
2. The Fellows team will develop at least four new seminar plans aligned with academic content, including strong pre and post seminar literacy activities. The team will also facilitate the sharing of these Paideia plans and implementation grade-level and school-wide.
3. Student literacy and communication skills improve after participation in multiple Paideia seminar cycles over the course of the school year.
The Paideia Seminar Cycle, with its components of reading, writing, thinking, speaking, and listening, is a perfect vehicle to address the Common Core State Standards for literacy across all content areas in middle grades. The Paideia Fellows team at Asheville Middle School will dig into the new Common Core literacy, speaking and listening standards and determine how the Paideia seminar cycle can be best used to meet both content and literacy standards. Rich seminars developed by the Paideia leadership team will integrate learning and challenge students to higher levels of critical thinking and expression of thought. Seminars will include all four core academic areas; some texts will be used school-wide, and others will be specific to grade levels, as determined by the leadership team. Pre-seminar reading activities and post-seminar writing activities will be included so that each seminar becomes a full cycle of literacy. The National Paideia Center will assist in crafting seminars with high-level questions challenging to students, selecting rigorous and ambiguous texts, and developing the pre and post seminar activities. During the course of the school-year, the team will read and discuss The Paideia Program by Mortimer Adler whose work was rooted in the belief that, "The best education for the best [is] the best education for all."
Students will study and analyze complex texts with their peers using active reading strategies during pre-seminar, discuss the text in a seminar led by a teacher facilitator who poses open-ended questions, and write in response to the seminar and ideas discussed during the post-seminar. The seminar activity values the thinking, speaking, and listening of all students in a collaborative and intellectual atmosphere. Students are explicitly taught and practice the skills necessary for academic discussion, setting both personal and group goals for speaking and listening prior to each seminar. The level of student engagement will be evaluated, along with growth in academic areas, especially in literacy and communication skills.
Project Goals
1. Team members explore the new Common Core State Standards for Literacy, Speaking and Listening, examing how the Paideia seminar cycle can be used to address multiple standards.
2. The Fellows team will develop at least four new seminar plans aligned with academic content, including strong pre and post seminar literacy activities. The team will also facilitate the sharing of these Paideia plans and implementation grade-level and school-wide.
3. Student literacy and communication skills improve after participation in multiple Paideia seminar cycles over the course of the school year.